So Jes has given me an early B-day present, and while going against her personal preference/ tradition of only giving folks handmade things as presents, she has adhered to the classic rule of gift-giving, "give 'em something they'll love, that they'd never get for themselves."
I've been lusting after these Fieldsheer Warrior gloves since we went shopping this fall for gear for the rider safety class. Sure, they look like Darth's Vader's formal wear, with a price to match, but man-o-man! do they feel good. Very lightweight, but with substantial padding and armor over key points. (Being an artist, I'm a little paranoid about my hands.) One of the key selling features for me though, is the construction of the palms, and inner fingers. These are constructed of buttery, supple kangaroo leather. A little online research showed why this is a superior material for motorcycling gloves:
Similarly when split into thinner substances kangaroo retains considerably more of the original tensile strength of the unsplit leather than does calf. When split to 20% of original thickness kangaroo retains between 30 to 60% of the tensile strength of the unsplit hide. Calf on the other hand split to 20% of original thickness retains only 1-4% of original strength.
I've only had the chance to wear them riding once, and while I will hopefully never be able to review their performance in a crash or skid, and can say they are REALLY nice. Besides enabling more sensitive interaction with throttle and gearing on a vintage Vespa, they are also supple enough, that I could fish keys out of jean pockets, and fasten and unfasten the D-rings on my helmet strap. Most telling of all, when fishing the scooter key out of my pocket, I happened to pull out a few folded dollar bills, which fell onto the pavement. Without thinking I reached down and picked them up, not realizing until I'd stuff the currency back in my pocket, that such a feat would have been near-impossible with any other motoring gauntlet I've ever owned.
Thanks again, Jes!
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2 comments:
These look like a fine pair of gloves and it is always impressive when you can undo a helmet with them on. But can you paint with them?
Kim has been hinting at a similar present for me though I will probably find something heavier like the Tourmaster Winter Elites, Orina 118s, or maybe even snowmobile mittens. The later would probably be best for me but I just don't want to look like that kid on A Christmas Story.....
Kangaroo killer! I'd been looking for a reason to loathe you goddammit and now I've found it! Ha!
P.S. Your crazy ass left a checkbook and a bunch of mail and pocket-paper crap at my house when you were off yer rocker for G's birthday.
Nice goin'. hee hee hee
want me to drop it off at yer cabin?
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